Nagpur: From 1.56 lakhs in 2011, the number of severely malnourished children in the state has dropped to 83,000 this year, claims the data gathered under the integrated child development scheme (ICDS).Speaking exclusively to TOI, state minister for women and child development Pankaja Munde stated that her department will now collect more accurate data using mobile application.Admitting that real-time data collection was not taking place earlier, Munde said that a digitized method will now be adopted in all the districts. “We will be providing mobile phones to anganwadi supervisors and sevikas who will be trained to collect and feed data in the app by a dedicated crew,” she said.Expecting the malnutrition numbers to initially be on a higher side after such extensive data collection, the minister has prepared the department “to not fear the big numbers”.About three months back, a survey by the public health department in some districts had indicated under-reporting of malnutrition cases. Refuting this, Munde stated that overall malnourishment has not increased in the state, but the numbering pattern has changed.“Now with Aadhar linkage at birth and a digital drive, we can expect precise figures,” said Munde. She also pointed out that Maharashtra is the only state which is setting-up Village Child Development Centres in non-tribal areas too.Recently while replying to a query tabled in state assembly, Munde had admitted that in a five-month span between September 2017 to January this year, the state lost about 995 infants in 0-6 months age bracket.Data provided by the department shows that from 45 in 2001, the state’s infant mortality rate gradually came down to 24 in 2013. During the initial tenure of Munde, the rate saw a marginal decline to 19 in 2016 from 22 in 2014.While death of infants “continues to be a challenge” for the state, the minister feels it can’t be attributed to a sole cause. “Right from malnutrition, infections to anaemic mothers, poverty and many diseases are responsible for it,” said Munde.In districts like Palghar, which records hundreds of infant deaths every year, social stigma and superstitious beliefs are also to be blamed. “During my visit, I met a young mother who had lost her infant. She was 17 and already was a mother to three kids,” said Munde, who witnessed the tribals taking infected or sick infants to ‘babas’ rather than medical doctors.“We are focusing on institutionalization of deliveries and in the last few years, many have taken place in hospitals. However to fight this problem, it is important for people to get sensitized,” she added.According to her, sensitization on female foeticide has improved in many districts. While figures show improvement in Munde’s constituency Beed which from 894 in 2001 recorded a sex ratio of 922 in 2016, in some districts the female population has seen a downfall. In 2001, Jalna’s sex ratio was 903 which reduced to 870 in 2011 and further came down to 852 in 2016. Similarly in Hingoli, the ratio was 927 in 2001, 882 in 2011 and 869 in 2016.On this, Munde said that the state is implementing schemes to encourage the concept of girl being the family’s heir. “Under Mazi Kanya Bhagyashree Scheme, we are depositing Rs50,000 in the name of the girl child and her mother, if a mother or father undergo family planning surgery after first girl child. The incidents of female feticides are dropping. Even though we are doing better than northern states, we are still lagging behind southern ones,” added Munde.Table1: Infant Mortality RateYear--------------------IMR2001----------------------452002----------------------452003----------------------422004-----------------------362005------------------------362006-------------------------352007-------------------------342008-------------------------332009-------------------------312010-------------------------282011--------------------------252012--------------------------252013----------------------------242014-----------------------------222015-------------------------------212016--------------------------------19Table 2: Malnourished children:Year---------------------- Moderately Malnourished-------------------Severely Malnourished2011---------------------------1236196--------------------------------------------1560442012----------------------------762797-----------------------------------------------1007712013-----------------------------601438-----------------------------------------------827192014-----------------------------579254-------------------------------------------------878292015------------------------------541878-------------------------------------------------784732016------------------------------566311------------------------------------------------832882017------------------------------550625-------------------------------------------------784322018------------------------------542970---------------------------------------------------83067

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